“When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.” (United States of America)
“Our new Constitution is now established, everything seems to promise it will be durable; but, in this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes.”
“The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield, and government to gain ground.”
Thomas Jefferson President
“Laws that forbid the carrying of arms disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes.”
“What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms.”
Thomas Jefferson President
“There is nothing so likely to produce peace as to be well prepared to meet an enemy.”
George Washington, President
Letter to Elbridge Gerry, January 29,1780
“Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birth-right of an American…The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people.”
“The constitutions of most of our States assert, that all power is inherent in the people…that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed.”
Thomas Jefferson President
“As civil rulers, not having their duty to the people duly before them, may attempt to tyrannize, and as the military forces which must be occasionally raised to defend our country, might pervert their power to the injury of their fellow citizens, the people are confirmed by the article in their right to keep and bear their private arms.”
“Every citizen should be a soldier. This was the case with the Greeks and Romans and must be that of every free state.”
Thomas Jefferson President
“The militia, who are in fact the effective part of the people at large, will render many troops quite unnecessary. They will form a powerful check upon the regular troops and will generally be sufficient to over-awe them.”
“Americans have the right and advantage of being armed ― unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.”
James Madison President
“The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic; since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them.”
“The right of the people to keep and bear…arms shall not be infringed. A well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the best and most natural defense of a free country.”
James Madison President
“Free men have arms (guns); slaves do not.”
“The prohibition is general. No clause in the Constitution could by any rule of construction be conceived to give to Congress a power to disarm the people. Such a flagitious attempt could only be made under some general pretense by a state legislature. But if in any blind pursuit of inordinate power, either should attempt it, this amendment may be appealed to as a restraint on both.”
“The militia is our ultimate safety. We can have no security without it.”
“I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people, except for few public officials.”
“Arms in the hands of individual citizens may be used at individual discretion for the defense of the country, the over-throw of tyranny, or in private self-defense.”
John Adams President
“The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed.”
“Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe and preserve order in the world as well as property…Horrid mischief would ensue were the law-abiding deprived of the use of them.”
“Oppressors can tyrannize only when they achieve a standing army, an enslaved press, and a disarmed populace.”
James Madison President
“There never was a good war or a bad peace.”
Benjamin Franklin, Letter to Josiah Quincy, September 11, 1783